Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri Monday launched the Global Housing Technology Challenge (GHTC) among stakeholders, a move aimed at introducing best technologies that seek to construct houses in a shorter period of time with lower cost.

Under the initiative launched by the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U), the government will hold ‘grand expo-cum-conference’ in March where stakeholders will showcase their best technologies to build houses.

Builders can opt for identified technologies for timely delivery of their projects.

The PMAY-U, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015, aims to construct more than one crore houses and ensure “Housing for All by 2022” by providing financial assistance to the beneficiaries.

The ministry has so far sanctioned around 68.5 lakh for construction under the PMAY (U). Around 1.5 million houses have been handed over to beneficiaries.

Speaking at an event which also saw launch of GHTC websites and mobile app, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs minister emphasised that there is a need to look for new emerging, disaster-resilient, environment friendly, cost-effective and speedy construction technologies.

He called for a paradigm shift in technology transition using large-scale construction under the PMAY-U as an opportunity to get the best available construction technologies across the globe.

The technologies identified at the March conference will be implemented on a pilot basis to see the results.

Puri envisioned to source technologies from all over the world and identify those that would be suitable for adoption in India.

At the event, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that the time frame for construction of houses in the country must be reduced to four to five months.

Ministry Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra and other senior officers were present at the event.